UK City Centre Hotels Are Failing Disabled Guests

Despite there being 700,000 hotel rooms in the UK, there are just a handful of confirmed hotel rooms in major UK cities equipped with hoists – a critical piece of safely equipment for disabled travellers.

This highlights a significant accessibility gap within an industry legally obligated to make "reasonable adjustments" under the Equality Act 2010.

Recent independent research, conducted by the team at Snowball app – a mobile platform described as the “TripAdvisor for the disabled community”, created by accessibility advocate and wheelchair user, Simon Sansome - highlights the scale of this accessibility failure.

Findings show that, of the few rooms available, only 55 in total include hoists, with 44 of these located in specialist accessible, rural holiday lets, such as Marsham Court Hotel in Dorset – places where one would already expect a high level of accessibility infrastructure. This leaves a paltry 11 rooms in major hotels in UK cities where disabled guests can find the necessary equipment.

Of these 11 rooms:

Holiday Inn offers 3 rooms with hoists in London Heathrow, Cardiff and Birmingham
Premier Inn has 2 rooms equipped with hoists in London Archway and London Stratford East
Hotels with just 1 hoist include Able Stay in London, Accor Group in Liverpool, Pan Pacific in London, The Londoner Hotel, The Voco Hotel in Leicester, and Z Hotel in London.

Shockingly, well-known hotel groups Travelodge, Britannia, and Marriott confirmed they have no rooms with hoists, while Hilton, DoubleTree, and Best Western could not confirm the presence of hoists in any of their rooms.

Leicestershire-based Simon Sansome who was paralysed from the waist down following an injury in 2014, launched Snowball to highlight accessibility gaps across the UK. His mobile app features user-generated reviews, enabling disabled people to share insights about accessible services and locations, ranging from parking spaces and petrol stations to health services and hospitality venues.

The app arose from a Facebook community Sansome started that reached over 30 million people, underscoring the high demand for accessible information among disabled individuals.

Sansome commented:
“This research is a stark reminder of the hospitality industry’s failure to provide even basic facilities for disabled guests.

“For the 1.2 million wheelchair users in the UK, and the 7.8% of the population relying on accessible infrastructure, this lack of provision is nothing short of discriminatory. For many, a hoist is not a luxury – it’s a necessity.”

The Equality Act 2010 obligates businesses, including those in the hospitality sector, to make “reasonable adjustments” so as not to exclude or disadvantage disabled customers. Yet, this investigation raises critical questions about what constitutes reasonable adjustments and whether the hospitality industry is truly meeting its legal obligations.

Many disabled individuals, including those with neuromuscular disorders, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy, and progressive degenerative diseases, depend on facilities like hoists for basic safety, mobility and dignity during travel.

Snowball’s data highlights the urgent need for standardised accessibility features in all hotels, irrespective of brand or price point. As more disabled travellers use Snowball to share their experiences, it is hoped that both legal standards and consumer expectations will drive significant changes in the hospitality sector, making hotels truly accessible for all.

For more information and to explore accessible locations, find ‘Snowball Community’ at AppStore or Google Play.